Mushrooms
by L3ftOfCent3r
Summary: Five times Jefferson tried to make contact with Grace, and one time he didn't have to.


**The 1st time...**

He remembers opening his eyes and finding himself in a strange place—a palace of sorts, but different than any he'd ever seen. Jefferson would later learn that it was called a mansion, or just, a "really large house", depending on who you asked. The house was grand and filled with luxuries that hadn't even existed in his own world. The closets were filled with clothes that he hadn't picked out, but reluctantly, he admitted that he would have...given the choice. His house was filled with many, many things, but still, it was overwhelmingly empty. Grace was not playing "hide and seek" in one of the dozen rooms. Grace was not there. Jefferson set out to find her...

He was walking through an alleyway towards the street when he saw her run passed. His heart came alive, pounding furiously in his chest.

"GRACE!" he called as he ran through the alley and then turned the corner after her, "Grace!"

The little girl stopped on the sidewalk and looked over her shoulder to see him. Jefferson froze and swallowed down a sob that had risen in his throat. She was just as he had remembered—blonde-haired, brown-eyed and sweet-faced. Grace looked curiously at the strange man, wondering why he was crying, and more importantly—who was "Grace". Another piece of Jefferson's heart broke when he realized that she didn't recognize him.

"Paige!" a man called from a car that was parked on the curb.

The little girl quickly responded to the sound of the name and looked away from Jefferson.

"Come on, Paige. We're leaving." The man called to her.

"Okay, daddy!" she replied as she ran towards him.

_Daddy. _Never before had such a word been so painful to hear. It chipped away at Jefferson's heart like no word ever had. _He_ was her father—not this other man! But _here_, in this "new world", his daughter was not his daughter. His Grace was not _his _Grace. His Grace was someone else's "Paige".

**The 2nd time...**

He had found out where she lived. The house she lived in, with her _new_ mother and father, could be seen from his own home. Jefferson bitterly noted that it was just one of the many cruel details of Regina's scheme, and the telescopes he found inside of his house proved how cruel she was. Jefferson was resolved not to spend his life watching his daughter through a curved lens. He had hopes of making Grace remember!

Jefferson sent an anonymous package to her house. It was wrapped in silver paper and strapped with a shiny bow. He watched through the telescope as the little girl found it, smiling with delight to find the card that read: "To: Paige". She quickly ran inside with the box and began opening it on the kitchen table. She pulled out several layers of tissue paper, revealing the small, porcelain tea-set that was inside of the box. Grace smiled, sweetly, and carefully picked up the teapot. Jefferson took-in a deep, shaky breath as he saw his daughter holding her present. He focused the telescope on her face, hoping to see a glimpse of recognition. _How could she forget all those tea parties we had together?_ For a moment, the little girl's face turned solemn as she stared at the teapot in her hands, feeling a sense of familiarity or déjà vu. It was a feeling too complicated for a child to place and she carefully put the teapot back inside of the box. Jefferson's eyes closed shut and he gave a defeated sigh. He would try again. He would send her other presents. It would be a way of making-up for the things he hadn't been able to give her in "their world".

**The 3rd time...**

He would sit at a bench, obscured by the shadow of the over-hanging tree as he looked at the elementary school across the street. Jefferson would sometimes watch his daughter play during recess. It was just something to help pass the time, and Jefferson had _a lot_ of time on his hands. He would daydream about approaching Grace after school. In his daydreaming, he would invent a dog that he didn't have, who had a made-up name like "Spot", and then he would ask the little girl if she had seen such a dog. He imagined, then, that Grace would offer to help find the imaginary dog, giving him time—after so many years—to finally speak with his daughter. But he knew better than to do something like that. _This_ world was constantly suspicious of strangers who talked to children, and Jefferson was only a stranger to "Paige". A commotion from the school yard garnered Jefferson's attention.

"Don't go after that ball!" a teacher yelled as an inflatable, blue ball bounced over the iron fence, and then across the street. Unthinkingly, Jefferson stood-up from the bench and walked over to the curb where the ball had stopped. He took it in his hands, staring down at the blue toy before he glanced up to see all the faces that were peeping at him from over the fence.

"Mister, can you give us our ball back?" a little boy asked

Jefferson searched the children's faces until he found the face of his own child. His heart gave a start to see that she was looking at him over the fence with the rest of her peers. He walked across the street, his heart pounding in anticipation of speaking to her. _But what should I say?_ There were so many little eyes and ears watching. Jefferson swallowed as he stepped onto the sidewalk that ran alongside the school's fence. He looked into her brown eyes, silently begging his daughter to remember that _he_ was her real father, her papa.

"Here you go." he said as he handed her the ball and it was painful that that was all he could say.

Grace took the ball from his hands as she looked at the mans face. She had never seen him before, but for some reason she wished that he didn't look so sad.

"Thank you." she said with a smile as she pulled the ball back inside the fence.

His heart lifted at the smile she gave him and Jefferson grinned. He opened his mouth to speak, then, but the girl turned away. It felt like losing her all over again as she ran off with the rest of the children. His jaw clenched and his teeth ground together as he blamed himself for the missed opportunity. He would go home and make a hat—it gave his hands something to do when he was angry.

**The 4th time...**

He had been stuck in Storybrooke for 10 years. He took a breath as he realized that that made Grace 20 years old. If having to be separated from her wasn't enough to make him go mad, the fact that time didn't move—definitely was! His daughter still looked as she always did, forever stuck at the age of 10. Jefferson decided to be thankful for it. _How terrible would it be to watch her "grow-up" from a distance? _Jefferson looked at the park through his telescope, watching as the birthday party wound down. Grace didn't know it, but it was the 10th time that she had celebrated her 10th birthday. Jefferson gave a sigh, having grown tired of this world and of this curse, but mostly, he was tired as watching his daughter through a damn telescope!

He grabbed his coat then, and left his house, heading towards the park. Her _new_ parents were cleaning up the aftermath, throwing away the frosting-smeared paper plates and the half-emptied plastic cups. The father stood off to the side, giving a long, tired sigh as he stretched his back.

"Ten years old, huh?" Jefferson commented and the man jumped at his sudden presence.

"I'm sorry?"

Jefferson pointed a finger at the balloon with the big "10" on it.

"Oh. Yeah!" the man replied, being friendly, "Seems like just yesterday she was yay-high."

The mans hand hovered about three feet above the ground and Jefferson raised an eyebrow.

"Hmm," he hummed in response as he watched Grace go down the slide, "Funny how ten years seems like a long time for everything else—except when it comes to your child."

The man cracked a smile at Jefferson and nodded his head.

"You have kids, then?"

Jefferson didn't answer as his daughter ran towards him, and then crashed into the man who was standing beside him.

"Daddy!" she cried as she looked up at the man who was _not_ her father, "Can I please stay just a little bit longer?"

"Sure, birthday girl! A few minutes more—so, you better make them count!"

Jefferson winced as Grace hugged the man tightly, giving her _new_ father the love she had once given him. She pulled away then and looked up at Jefferson. There wasn't the slightest bit of recognition in her brown eyes. Jefferson swallowed, trying to hold down the pain that that caused him.

"Happy birthday." he breathed the words and Grace looked to her _new _father as if she needed permission to reply to a "stranger".

The man who was _not_ her father nodded and Grace looked back a Jefferson with a smile.

"Thank you!"

Jefferson watched her run off towards the playground, wondering how many more years he could take of this. Even if he tried to get to know her, she'd forget him in a years time. It was all part of the curse, and it was maddening!

"No," Jefferson replied to the man with bitterness in his voice, "I don't have a child."

**The 5th time...**

He made her a rabbit. It was white and fluffy and perfect. It was better than the one she had seen at the market and better than the patchwork rabbit he had made her instead. Jefferson placed it in a box, and then wrapped it with silver paper, placing a shiny bow on top. He left it at her front door with a little card attached that said: "To: Paige". When school let out, it was the first thing she saw when she went home. Jefferson watched through the telescope as she eagerly opened the box. He focused on her face, hoping desperately that the rabbit—the one she had wanted so much when they were in "their world"—would awaken her memory. He watched her gasp in delight and then grab the rabbit up in a hug. Jefferson took a deep, satisfying breath and a happy smile formed on his face. He had made the rabbit from scratch—it was a part of him just like all the hats he had made were—and so, the hug that Grace was giving the rabbit was almost like hugging him. It was the best he could do and it was the best he could have. He watched as the little girl ran off to show the rabbit to her parents, and he realized that she never would remember him. He'd have to settle for smiles that weren't for him and hugs that were given to the rabbit.

**And then, once...**

A large patch of mushrooms were growing in his yard, forming a circle. The mushrooms had been his livelihood back in _his_ world, but here, they were just an eyesore. Jefferson kicked a few of them with his boot before going at them with a shovel.

"DON'T!" a sweet voice stopped him before he plunged the shovel into the ground.

Jefferson's heart started pounding at the sound of such a sweet, familiar voice, and slowly, he turned to face the child who had scolded him. Grace was in his yard, only a few feet away from him, and her expression was one of concern.

"That's a fairy ring!" she informed him as she walked over to the mushrooms, "It'll bring you good fortune."

Jefferson's beating heart slowed to its normal beat, and he gulped in wonder as he stared at his daughter. Suddenly, he felt very, very fortunate.

"I believe it!" he exclaimed as he looked into her brown eyes.

The little girl walked to the mushrooms he had kicked-over and she gave a sigh.

"Of course, your fortune might not be so good since you broke the ring."

Jefferson laughed. He was tempted to laugh hysterically in his joy, but he didn't want to scare off his visitor.

"I'm not so sure about that," he replied as he leaned his shovel against a tree and crossed his arms, "You're here, and you showed-up just in time to stop me from digging them up..."

Jefferson bent at the waist until he was looking at her at eye-level, "I'd say that's pretty fortunate."

Grace smiled and it was a smile just for him. He smiled back, feeling happier than he had in over a decade. The happiness betrayed him though. It spilled from his eyes and dripped down his face in single stream. Grace frowned.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

Jefferson turned his back to her to wipe away the tear.

"I'm sorry," he apologized as he faced her again, "You just reminded me so much of my daughter."

Grace tilted her head and looked up at him with so much sympathy in her eyes that he wanted to grab her up and hug her tight...but he wouldn't. He couldn't.

"What happened to her?"

Jefferson's eyes widened at the question and he took a deep breath as he tried to think-up an answer.

"Well," he began as he examined his daughter, "We—My daughter and I just can't be together right now."

Grace could tell by his sad eyes that it was best not to ask "why", but she was still curious. Jefferson noticed it.

"But, one day," he added, sounding hopeful, "I believe that we'll be together again."

Grace smiled at him and then looked down at the mushrooms.

"Maybe the fairy ring is a sign that it will happen soon," she said, trying to encourage him.

Jefferson smiled. Grace didn't know it, but the "fairy ring" had already brought them together.

"I should go," she said as looked over her shoulder in the direction of her house, "But it was nice meeting you!"

She smiled again and her face was so sweet and sincere that it filled his heart with hope.

"Aren't you going to tell me your name?" Jefferson called after her just as she turned to leave.

The little girl gave a laugh and then walked back until she was standing right before him.

"I'm Paige." she said as she stuck out her hand for him to shake.

Jefferson took-in a sharp intake of breath as he stared at the hand she was offering. It took all the strength he had not to grab her up into a suffocating hug. _Can I manage a hand shake?_ Slowly and carefully, he wrapped his hand around her smaller one, and then smiled at her.

"It's very nice to meet you, Paige," he said as he shook her hand, "I'm Jefferson and I promise you," he paused as he gave her hand a little squeeze, "When I'm reunited with my daughter—I'll tell her it's because of you, because you saved me from destroying the fairy ring."

Grace grinned, and Jefferson reluctantly let go of her hand. He felt the loss of her with every foot step she took back to her house, but she had left him with hope. He couldn't help but smile to himself over the moment they had shared—no matter how short it was! Grace had given him faith that all curses can be broken. Jefferson glanced at the circle of mushrooms that he had nearly destroyed, and for the first time, in a long time, he believed in the good of magic again.


End file.
